


The Bright Side

by badly_knitted



Category: FAKE (Manga)
Genre: Bad Weather, Community: fandomweekly, Drama, Established Relationship, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Rain, Unrequited Love, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted
Summary: It’s a dismally wet day and Dee’s in a bad mood, which just makes JJ’s cheerfulness grate even more than usual.
Relationships: Dee Laytner/Randy "Ryo" MacLean
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1
Collections: FandomWeekly (2019-2020) Writing Challenge on Dreamwidth





	The Bright Side

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Theme Prompt: 069 – Ray Of Sunshine at fandomweekly.
> 
> **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

Dee and Ryo were drenched to the skin when they pounded through the 27th Precinct’s front doors, having been diverted to the scene of a homicide on their way to work. A storm was raging above the city, torrential rain driven by gale force winds that rendered umbrellas useless, and it looked like the bad weather had set in for the day.

“Good morning, Mr Dreamy!” JJ called out catching sight of the object of his obsessive adoration.

Dee scowled at the smaller detective, who was well wrapped up in a stylish bright blue rain slicker and hat, and was therefore perfectly dry and warm despite having only just arrived himself.

“What’s good about it?” he demanded, stomping past JJ, leaving a trail of rainwater behind him. “We’re soaking wet, half frozen, and we’ve just come from a murder scene where an entire family’s been butchered in their own backyard! Way I see it, today needs ta be over already.”

“But the rain’s washing the streets clean! We really needed it; the air smells so much fresher already!” 

Optimism should have been JJ’s middle name; he was perennially cheerful, always looking on the bright side, seeing the glass half full, and some days Dee just hated him for it. Bad enough that JJ kept jumping all over him, trying to kiss him while declaring his undying love, but he was always so damned happy about everything, a determined little blue-haired ray of sunshine! For a detective on the Serious Crimes Squad that was wrong in more ways than Dee could count.

“Yeah? Well it’s washin’ away most of the evidence from our crime scene too!”

“Oh, but that won’t stop you solving the case!” Far from being put off by Dee’s grumpiness, JJ was tagging along behind his crush, full of bounce and good cheer, somehow managing to worm his way in between Dee and Ryo, who was dripping along in their wake. “I believe in you!”

“You can go believe in someone else; I need a shower.” Dee was heading for the locker room where there was hot water, towels, and dry clothing.

“I could wash your back!” JJ had that starry-eyed look on his face that sent chills through Dee.

“Try it and I’ll shove ya in your locker and leave ya there all day!”

“There’s no need to be so mean, Mister Grumpy-Pants! If you change your mind you know where to find me.” With that, JJ bounced his way towards the squad room.

Dee shoved the locker room door open and squelched through. Behind him he could hear Ryo snickering.

“Oh sure, go ahead and laugh!” he grumbled at his partner. “It’s okay for you; you’re not the one he’s obsessed with.”

“You could be a little nicer to him,” Ryo chastised mildly.

“Are you outta your mind? Bein’ nice to him was what got me into this mess in the first place. I stood up for him back at the Academy when he was gettin’ bullied for bein’ the way he is. You know, a little on the flamboyant side. Everyone knew he was gay from the start and a bunch of senior cadets saw him as an easy target. I told ‘em if they had somethin’ against gays they should pick on someone their own size.”

“Someone like you?”

“Exactly.” Dee grinned wolfishly as he began to peel his way out of his wet clothes. “I put the ringleader in the infirmary, got myself a reprimand for it, but he started the fight so he only had himself to blame for gettin’ kicked out. Ever since then, JJ’s had a bad case of hero worship. Thinks he loves me ‘cause I saved him. Thought I’d gotten rid of him for a while, but then he had ta show up here. You know the rest.” 

He stopped talking while he fought his way out of his jeans, straightening up at last clad only in his boxers, then…

“Y’know, I’d let you wash my back.”

“Wash your own back. We’re NOT starting anything in the showers at work!” Ryo could have added ‘again’ but didn’t; the last thing he needed was to remind Dee of that encounter, although it was doubtful he’d forgotten any more than Ryo himself had.

“You sure about that?” Dee grinned at his lover. “’Cause you know I’d return the favor.”

Ryo didn’t dignify that with a reply, just headed into the shower, leaving Dee to follow.

Twenty minutes later, warmer and feeling much more comfortable in dry clothes, they made their way to their desks. Dee cast a gloomy look out of the rain-streaked window.

“Just hope we don’t haveta go out in that again today; we’re outta dry clothes.”

“Maybe the rain will stop.”

Dee eyed his partner suspiciously. “You been drinkin’ JJ’s Kool-Aid?”

Ryo laughed. “He’s right about one thing; it wouldn’t hurt you to lighten up a bit, try seeing the bright side for once.”

“I see the bright side when there is one. JJ just gets on my nerves, especially on days like this. Why’s he gotta be so goddamned cheerful all the time? It’s not natural, I swear he’s gotta have a few screws loose.”

“He’s got as much right to be cheerful as you have to be grumpy,” Ryo pointed out.

“Whose side are you on?”

“My own.”

Across the room, neither man saw the way JJ’s face fell, all his determined cheerfulness evaporating as he watched them bantering, saw their hands brush briefly, and the smile that passed between them.

“Why d’you keep doing this to yourself?” JJ’s partner Drake Parker asked. “Dee’s never gonna look at you the way he looks at Ryo. It’s Ryo he wants.”

“I know,” JJ whispered, “but as long as I keep trying I can pretend there’s still hope. If I give up then what do I have left? Just the knowledge that I’ve wasted years loving someone who’ll never love me back, and that’s too depressing to think about.” He pasted his smile back on. “Besides, maybe someday he’ll get tired of pining after Ryo and see what’s right in front of him.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Drake said with uncharacteristic perceptiveness. “I doubt anyone’s getting between those two.”

JJ pretended not to hear. “Look, Drakey; the sun’s trying to break through!”

A glimmer of sunlight pierced the leaden clouds; it looked a lot like hope.

The End


End file.
